A Place Under the Stars
by NaruNekoHinaChan
Summary: Narumi Erl Anju had been hiding everything. His past was only known by those who were part of it, now his story is unraveled in truths and in broken hearts as the story of Anju and his "Guardian Angel" fight against the hatred around them.
1. Chapter 1

A Place Under The Stars

Chapter 1: Red Pen

Every word of the summary was spelled wrong, the sentences were choppy, and the handwriting was hardly legible.

Narumi sighed and face palmed, it was sad—very sad for someone in the middle school to produce this kind of work. He wasn't as disappointed as he was distraught, though, because he knew why Tsubasa had written such a mess. The Elementary School Principal had been sending him on ridiculous missions for the past few days, and it was becoming hard for Tsubasa to keep his grades up.

Sighing, Narumi set the summary down and stared up at the ceiling. Suddenly, the door to the lounge flew open and three figures whizzed into the room, knocking over a table with a pitcher of water and slamming to the ground.

"Ow! That huuurt-"

"Tsubasa!"

Again, Narumi shook his head and stood up before walking to the front where Tsubasa, Misaki, and Tonochi were piled on the ground.

"Having some fun are we?" he chuckled and lay on the ground by them. The three students jolted and stared as Narumi lay on the ground on his stomach. He smiled at them and laughed. "Oh you should see your own faces right now! You all look so scared! I'm not going to hurt you or anything…now do you want to tell me why you would be skipping class?"

The three jolted again and scuttled to their knees, obviously frightened that either Narumi was going to bust them, or another teacher would walk into the room and kill them instead.

Narumi yawned and lay his head down on his folded arms, still looking towards the kids.

"Tonochi, your Japanese grade is slipping, it isn't exactly a good thing for you to be skipping class right now is it?"

"S…sorry."

He turned to Misaki, "Your grades are fine…but I'm still wondering why you'd skip class…" he glanced at Tsubasa and then back to Misaki. "Oh wait, nevermind."

Finally, he looked straight at Tsubasa. "Mikan is all right…just calm down and focus on your school work, okay?"

Tsubasa looked away and didn't respond.

"Tsubasa," Narumi sat up straight and smiled. He kneeled forward and gazed longingly at the boy. Tsubasa shuddered and began to back away.

"Hey! Narumi-Sensei! Hey wait a minute-"

"You'll be happy now right?" Narumi giggled, using his Alice sparingly—as always.

Tsubasa smiled, "OF COURSE!"

"Good! Now all three of you, explain to me why you were cutting class to come to the teacher's lounge!" He was still using his Alice, because he knew these three well, and he knew that they were all tricky little fiends that lied very well. He had experienced their tricks many times before, and was prepared for them as well.

Misaki started, looking down at the floor she stated, "We were...um…curious…"

This threw Narumi off; he stopped using his Alice and raised his eyebrows. "Curious?"

"About the festival." Tonochi continued.

That was right! The Annual Alice Showcase Festival was coming up! It had been fantastic last year, though there had been many difficulties surrounding much of the Technological Class and their failed amusement park.

"So what were you guys snooping around for?"

Tonochi smirked, "We thought that we could see what this years play was going to be for the Somatic Class. You know, word is going around that you're going to direct it again this year."

He resisted letting his jaw drop and instead hid his emotions with a fake smile. "Now who told you guys that?"

The three responded, "Nodacchi-Sensei…"

Narumi stood up quickly and ran to the door, he swung it open and immediately ran out of the Teacher's Lounge and towards the Special Abilities Classroom. When he reached the door he threw it open and screamed into the room, "NODACCHI!"

The students stopped their laughing and swung their heads to look at him. The room had become a desert of silence, and complete mum that froze everyone in their tracks. Nodacchi was standing in the front of the room, smile bright and perky.

"Ah, Narumi," he said, "What do you need?"

Brushing a loose strand of hair behind his ear, Narumi laughed and said slowly, "You told your kids that I was directing the play for the Somatic Class this year?"

"Well it's true right?" Nodacchi gave Narumi his own original smile that seemed to act upon many students as if it were a pheromone Alice backed smile.

Narumi gave a nervous chuckle and leaned forward toward his colleague, "Nodacchi-Sensei…I am not…NOT…directing this year's play for the festival. I just refuse-"

"Narumi-Sensei! Aren't you going to do it?" a student pleaded loudly from across the room.

"Please Sensei!"

Soon the room was filled with cheers and pleas from the students, all jumping up from their seats and yelling at Narumi. He backed away from Nodacchi and staggered towards the door. He couldn't speak, his mind was racing with a nostalgic turbulence of his aching past. Shaking his head, he tried to get rid of the numbness that was controlling his body. Last year he had volunteered to direct the musical, but that was so much different than this year. After what had happened with Yuka and Shiki…and Mikan…he had no desire to work himself this year at the festival.

"Narumi?" Nodacchi's voice echoed in his head, pounding out a loud rhythm of his own name. "Narumi, are you alright? You're…"

"Why is he shaking?"

"What's wrong with him?"

"Narumi-Sensei?"

Narumi wasted no more time, he dashed from the room and ran down the hallway, ignoring the teacher's lounge where Tsubasa, Misaki, and Tono stood outside of the door waiting for him. He ignored their screams as he rushed by them, leaving them startled and flustered, just like his mind.

The things he had tried to forget, the past he had tried to hide, it was all starting to come back and grab at him now! He wanted to forget Yuka, he wanted to forget Yukihara-Sensei, he wanted to forget Kaoru, he wanted to forget everyone that had made his life so crazy—

And had given him a life in the first place.

No! It wouldn't happen, he'd shut every thing out. He had all ready shut them out when Yuka had left before hand, but ever since her reappearance, his memories had been itching to break free.

"No…no…no—leave me alone!" He screamed in the empty, spinning hallway and slammed against the wall. The area around him was a blur, and he heard echoes of far off voices calling his name.

"Narumi-Sensei!"

"Narumi-Sensei, are you all right?"

"What happened, Narumi-Sensei?"

"Narumi?"

"Narumi!"

The familiar voices melted into distant moans and were replaced by other echoes. These new voice that blocked out everything around him were strange, they were hating, they were…

He cringed as he saw them…

Those red eyes…


	2. Chapter 2

A Place Under The Stars

Chapter 2 (Part 1): The Angel's Guardian

"_So what's your full name? Can you tell me?"_

"_Narumi…Anju…"_

"_That's it? No middle name or nickname?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Hm…"_

"_What is it?"_

"_How's about I give you a middle name?"_

"_Give me? Can you…do that?"_

"_Sure! Why not?"_

"_Well…what would it be?"_

"Narumi."

He opened his eyes slowly, and was immediately blinded by the white walls and the bright light that shone down on him. The hospital air filled his lungs and he shivered at the nostalgic scent. Turning his head to the side, he saw a tall blurred figure above him. It was obvious who it was, the High School President, Mr. Yukihara.

Hiding the painful impulses running, pounding in his head, Narumi turned away and faced the ceiling again. He smiled and chuckled before saying, "I guess I must've caused a scene…"

Yukihara sighed and walked to a chair near the other side of the room. He sat down and leaned against the corner, pulled out a book and flipped to the last page. In a calm voice he read aloud,

"So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less,

Which have solicited. The rest is silence."

Narumi stared into space for a few more seconds before sighing and facing the President again.

"Hamlet."

"Does it remind you of anything else?"

"…I remember someone who used to read that play over and over. Constantly…nonstop. She was infatuated with it."

"Kaoru was a true Shakespeare fanatic, all right, but the thing is…" Yukihara stood up and walked to the bedside, he kneeled to the side and set his hand on Narumi's cheek. His palm was cold, freezing and shaking.

"You're ill?"

"A fever, but I feel fine."

"It's not good for the school and the students if the President is walking around like a sick puppy-"

"You're so sick that you can't even think of a good comeback. Now think a little bit here…what do you think that quote means?"

"It's pretty self explanatory. I would think."

Yukihara shook his head and frowned, he moved a piece of hair from Narumi's eyes to lay behind his ear, exposing the two moles underneath his left eye. He felt them carefully, tenderly even, and sighed. "How does it apply to you?"

"…I don't know…am I supposed to connect it to a student? A teacher? A senpai?"

The High School President stood up and walked towards the door. He didn't bother to turn around, he shut the door behind him and Narumi heard a click as the lock was turned.

"Damn him…" Narumi shook his head and sat up straight in the bed. Beside him was the book that Yukihara had left. It was not, in fact, Hamlet at all. The pages were thin and the cover was perfect—it was just bought, not long ago, possibly only about an hour or two beforehand.

On the cover was the title of the text.

"Aphephobia."


	3. Chapter 2 Part 2

A Place Under The Stars

Chapter 2 (Part 2): The Angel's Guardian

The door had been shut…

But the window was open.

Even though he knew that he was weak, Narumi couldn't stay in that room. It was suffocating, and he had been encased by white hospital walls more than he had ever wished to be. Somehow, he found himself taking the book "Aphephobia" with him.

He knew that he had the fear, ever since he had been little, surrounded by hate. Surrounded by and getting hit by drunkards and choking on tobacco smoke that made his eyes water. He had wished for anything and everything to happen, that someone would save him, yet nobody ever seemed to try. He had been alone, he had been isolated, and he had been afraid.

Until Sensei had come.

Narumi stopped walking and sat down by a tree, he laid his heavy head on the bark and then looked around for any passing students. Classes would be out in about an hour, so all of the kids should have been in the buildings—but it was inevitable that some students would jump out of the window and run freely through the streets of the Academy. He remembered doing so himself. He alone would hop out the window while Yukihara-Sensei was teaching—and Sensei wouldn't do anything about it. He would watch as Narumi escaped, he watched patiently. And within minutes, Narumi would come back, through the window, and sit down at his seat again and the class would continue to resume, just as it had when he left.

He hadn't gone anywhere past the window when he was out of the room, not when he was younger. The only reason he had ditched was to get a few minutes of fresh air before coming back in for the rest of class.

When he was in the Middle School, he had met others that would skip class, too. Kaoru would actually come and get him while he was staring blankly at the board. She would jump through the window and grab his arm, yanking him out and dragging him along the paths. Yuka would then always find them after class and reprimand Narumi—she was too afraid to yell at Kaoru.

Now, leaning against the tree and staring into the pale blue sky of the afternoon, Narumi sighed and looked to the soft ground.

"_What's your full name? Can you tell me?"_

Biting his lip, he reminisced that nostalgic car ride.

Yukihara Izumi, along with two other staff members of the Academy, had brought him into the limousine. Narumi sat in the back with Yukihara. He had been very shy back then. He had been neglected by his parents of some days, and on others risked being smothered by their drunken illusion of "love." The burnt scars on his back ached and burned on and off, but he had learned to hide the pain.

The man that sat beside him was tall, blonde, and he smiled constantly with a goofy grin that Narumi found annoying to stare at. He avoided making eye contact with Yukihara, until that one question had been asked.

"So what's your full name? Can you tell me?"

Narumi had swung his head to look at Yukihara Izumi. The man's expression was warm and tempting. His smile was authentic, and not drunk or manufactured with drugs. He responded meekly, "Narumi…Anju…"

Yukihara's smile began to fade, but the outline of the large grin was still present. "That's it? No middle name or nickname?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hm…"

"What is it?"

That term…"Middle name" or "Nickname" had been used before in front of Narumi, but he hadn't the slightest idea of the importance. He knew that some people had three names, but most were embarrassed—mortified—by their second name. Others resorted to Nicknames to hide their first names. A small amount of people wanted to be referred to by their second name. Narumi still did not see the difference in any of the situations.

"How's about I give you a middle name?" Yukihara pepped.

"Give me?" Narumi stuttered for words and blinked u at this strange new man. Can you…can you…really…do that?" He inhaled and then his throat fell dry. Such insignificance before that he had seen in people, now became a growing inspiration to him. It could have been that just the thought of someone wanting to give him something that was deemed important by others, was enough to make Narumi feel…accepted.

"Sure! Why not?" Yukihara leaned closer to him now and once again the large and completely ridiculous smile appeared on his face.

"Well…what would it be?"

At this inquiry Yukihara sat straight and then looked out the window of the limousine. He mused to himself and tapped his fingers on the armrest of the seat before starting to hum. Then, he turned to Narumi again and smiled, this time is was a normal sized smile. But the emotions that showed were far from normal.

It was a warm smile. A peaceful smile.

With his right hand, Yukihara bent forward and held Narumi's face in his palm. He moved a stray hair from Narumi's face, revealing two moles underneath Narumi's left eye, and sighed.

"Erl." He whispered.

"Erl?" Narumi repeated with awe and peace. The way it rolled off his tongue, the way it sounded when this person alone whispered it into the hum on the engine. The way it melted in with the rest of his name. "Narumi…Erl…Anju…"

"Why Erl?"

Yukihara bent forward even more and touched his forehead to Narumi's before whispering, "'Erl'…is a name unlike many others. You see, when I think of the name 'Erl,' I think of Guardian Angels."

"Guardians?"

"Yeah. You, Anju, must have someone watching over you. You're so young yet you've gone through so much, and I can't understand why anyone would have to go through the Hell that you've seen, that you've felt, that you had to life through."

As Yukihara spoke, Narumi Erl Anju tried to hold back the retching tears in his eyes, but in vain as streams rolled down his cheeks and onto his lap.

"Don't hide anything anymore." Yukihara said, "Just let it go."

With that, Narumi Erl Anju took one deep breath…and started to cry into the lap of Yukihara Izumi.


End file.
